Young Jedi Knights: Conspiracy: Cloud City
by Laetras
Summary: Hostile takeovers are being staged everywhere, and there\'s a new character on the scene...PG for a bit of violence. *Update* I\'ve decided to do away with chaptering on this one. Lots more new stuff.


All of this belongs to either Master Lucas or Kevin J. Anderson, and I make no money on this. I wouldn't make much anyway... :-P.

  


All events take place after Crisis at Crystal Reef. The twins are about 15 now.

  


  


Ayn Thren peered out the window of the diplomatic shuttle _Thunder Wraith_. Even though his quarters reminded him of his home planet of Corellia, being sixteen and already 1.8 meters tall, he was eager to get off the low hallways on the shuttle begin his 'vacation' on Coruscant. He was to conduct actual diplomatic business on my planet's behalf with the Solo children and their friends. His parents, the diplomatic envoy from Corellia, would be doing the same with the New Republic's Chief of State.

He ambled up to the cockpit of the shuttle, ran a hand through his wavy brown hair, and looked around. They had come out of hyperspace and they were now approaching Coruscant. He dashed back to his quarters and grabbed two things: his flight bag and his lightsaber. He stared at the saber for a few moments, remembering. At the age of three he was told he had Force potential. Since he was to replace his parents, they decided not to send him away, training me in diplomacy. His parents agreed to let the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker send he HoloNet instructions. He grew to be a Jedi Knight. Master Skywalker pronounced the main part of his training complete and now only sent two or three packets a month.

He heard a call from the cockpit, my mom: "Ayn, we're landing now."

"Coming, mom!" He shouted. He walked back up and looked out the viewport. The shuttle was over the largest building-or cluster of buildings-in the area. Five figures stood on the landing pad. As the ship settled down, he could make out three humans about his age, a Wookie, and the largest human, who he sensed was the Chief of State.

  


Jaina Solo craned her neck to see the shuttle coming ever closer to the landing pad.

"That looks like an _Express-_class shuttle," she commented. "Expensive."

The shuttle set down with a light thump. The boarding ramp extended. Jaina saw two people, a man and a woman, move over to talk with her mother. The last person out was dressed in an outfit similar to hers: a jumpsuit covered in pockets. His glacial blue gaze sized them up, not skipping a beat on Tenel Ka or Lowbacca. He nodded cordially, then walked over to the small group.

"Should we get to know each other?" he suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," Jacen said.

Once they were away from the adults, Ayn relaxed into an easygoing walk. "Blaster bolts, I hate diplomacy." That brought a chuckle, from everyone except Tenel Ka.

"It seems you have a Jedi weapon of your own," she said. Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie took a second glance at him and noticed the lightsaber hanging by his side.

Their questioning looks prompted a reply. "It's a long story. Can we find somewhere to eat? I could tell you there, and we could discuss-" here he took on a high and important look "-matters of interplanetary relations and such." Judging by the disgusted looks, he said, "Or maybe that diplomacy stuff can wait."

  


They waited at the entrance at one of the premier restaurants of Imperial City.

"No, I'm not from around here. But I'm a diplomat coming here." Ayn looked like he was ready to tear the seating droid limb from limb and reassemble it wrong.

"I'm sorry, but unless-" Ayn cut off the droid.

"Unless you let me through, I might have to do some bad rewiring on you and leave. You'd be deactivated for turning me away."

At the mention of bad rewiring, the droid looked shaken, if that was possible. It silently led them to a booth. They all ordered, then Ayn introduced himself. "I'm Ayn Thren. Jacen, Jaina, I know enough about you. Your uncle mentioned you quite a bit in his packets. Your parents, Tenel Ka, after donating the _Thunder Wraith_ to my family, told us all about you. Lowbacca, you're Chewbacca's nephew. That gets out. So, that's the end of the introductions."

Jaina looked confused. "Packets? What?"

Ayn began telling his story. At the end, the twins, Tenel Ka, and Lowie looked enlightened.

A waiter brought the food to the table.

"Want to hear a joke?" Jacen asked.

"Not really," Ayn said. "But okay."

"Which side of a bantha has more fur?" After getting a shrug from Ayn, he continued. "The outside!"

Ayn groaned. "If there's one thing I can't stand more than diplomacy, it's bad humor." He softened the insult with a dazzling smile, then attacked the bantha burger in front of him. Everyone followed his example. 

After ten minutes, nothing remained on the plates. Suddenly, interrupting their banter, a comlink call came in. "Tenel Ka, Lowie, Jacen, please come to my office. There are some things I need to clear up with you." It was the Chief of State.

They looked silently at each other and rose. "Sorry to leave in the middle of a meal," Jacen said.

"We can finish our conversation later. Do what is requested. Have fun." Jaina offered up a wicked smile.

The trio left. "Jaina, your love for mechanical stuff is almost like mine. Want to see the junk I have in my room?"

Jaina's eyes lit up. "What do you think? Lead on!"

Ayn led her through Imperial Palace to the opulent diplomatic quarters, then to a huge suite worth a whole pile. In one room stood a wall of bins containing everything technical.

"The only clothes I brought were in my flight bag. This was all my luggage." Ayn reached up to a high shelf and pulled down a small screen attached to a processing and HoloNet hacking unit. "This little thing can hack into almost any system and show me what is going on. For example: CIP, show me the exterior of the Fountain Palace on Hapes in the Hapes Cluster."

A hologram appeared in front of the screen, showing guards moving about.

"What's CIP mean?" Jaina asked, looking in awe at the small machine.

"Centralized Intelligence Processor. Back on Corellia there's a central control unit. It transmits via the HoloNet to this thing." Ayn smiled. "It's proved its worth over and over. Very useful during assaults."

"I can see why. Can I take a look?" Jaina asked.

"OK. Just say or type in the place you want to see. I can get sound if it is needed." Ayn leaned up against the wall and let his eyes fall half shut. "You want to eavesdrop on your mom's office?"

"Yes." Jaina tapped something into the CIP and turned the sound gain up. A comm call came in on Ayn's wall panel. He checked where it had come from.

"Your mom. Shut that off, or the feedback will let her know we're listening." Ayn waited a second, then clicked the panel on.

"Hello, Ayn, Jaina." Jacen said from the screen. Jaina shot Ayn a look. "Something unexpected came up."

"Yes? Stop evading." Jaina softened the rebuke with a lopsided grin.

"You and Ayn need to go to Cloud City to solve a diplomatic crisis. Me, Lowie, and Tenel Ka will be going to Karnak Alpha. Something's come up there, too. Zekk's on Kashyyyk...something appears to have gone wrong there too."

"Send both of the good diplomats to one place." Ayn grinned. "We'll start packing now." He cut the channel. "What should I take? Hmmm...." Ayn selected five of the bins and the CIP and took them. He also grabbed his lightsaber, turning it on to check the charge. A blue-green blade shot through with white lightning came into existence.

"How did you build that?" Jaina questioned in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's made out of two crystals I found in the forest near the Corellia House. I melted them together and used a diamond for my second crystal. It's not defective, I've tested it a whole bunch."

Jaina stood, captivated, until Ayn turned the lightsaber off and clipped it to his belt. "I need to get packed. What are we flying?"

"We get the _Thunder Wraith_. It's actually my personal possession."

Jaina looked excited. "I've never flown one before."

"They're kind of temperamental. I'll give you some instruction on the way. Hurry up and get packed. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Jaina dashed off toward her room. Ayn strolled out into the hall with his bag. Jacen fell into step beside him, and Tenel Ka pulled up next to Jacen.

"What did you do to her?" Jacen asked.

"Huh?" Ayn replied. "What do you mean?"

"She's never that eager to go on a diplomatic trip. What did you do?" Jacen explained.

"Oh. Oh. I told her I would teach her how to fly _Thunder Wraith_." Ayn smiled. "It worked."

"Ah. Aha." Tenel Ka said. "That would persuade Jaina."

"It did. Do we know anything about these diplomatic emergencies, or just that they are happening?" Ayn queried.

"Not really. They are just happening." Jacen frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're not the only one." Ayn walked toward the landing pad where _Thunder Wraith _was docked and Jacen and Tenel Ka walked off toward the private hanger where _Shadow Chaser_ was stored.

  


Ayn walked into _Thunder Wraith _and sensed Jaina up in the cockpit. He took the pilot's chair, with Jaina beside him.

"Power up, please." Ayn indicated a switch on the control panel. "Turn the repulsorlifts up gently. The engines will burn out very fast if you cut them in." Jaina tentatively lifted the craft off its landing struts. Ayn continued his instruction. "Turn it up gently...be careful going out of the atmosphere...that's it. Good job. I'll take her from here." Ayn took the shuttle out of Coruscant's gravity well with the touch of a professional.

"Course locked in," Jaina said.

"Hit it on my mark. Three.. two.. one. ..mark!" Ayn said. Jaina pushed the controls forward and _Thunder Wraith _leaped into hyperspace.

"Estimated time to arrival: One day, fourteen hours, fifty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds." The computerized voice cut off.

"What do we do now?" Jaina asked.

"You can watch the light show for a while," Ayn said, indicating hyperspace. "Or I can show you your quarters."

"I want to see the quarters." Jaina followed Ayn through a small sitting area, and a dining room.

"The quarters at the end of the hall are for my parents. On the left side, there are my quarters and the 'fresher. On the right are the guest quarters. You'll be staying in the first room. That's the one I use to keep the rest of my junk."

Jaina stepped into the room and stood transfixed. A box of tools stood on a desk and bins of junk, old circuitry, and other things were lined up against a wall. Jaina, so engrossed in the room, didn't even notice Ayn's departure or the door shutting behind him.

  


Four hours later, Jaina stood up to stretch her muscles. Conveniently, Ayn called her for midday meal. Jaina walked forward to the dining area. Two places were set, one at each end of the table. Platters of steaming food were set up at each end.

"Take what you want. What you don't eat, I'll recycle." Ayn walked in from the opposite side of the room. "Sit and eat." Ayn followed his own directions, and Jaina followed suit.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing to a reddish meat in a marinade on her plate.

"That's _farumme_. A large hauling reptile, usually from the planet Adumar. Really pretty good, actually," Ayn said, stabbing at a piece of meat with his fork and chewing absently.

Jaina speared a piece and tried it. "Not bad."

Ayn smiled. "It's obvious you like the room."

"Huh?" Jaina said, looking confused. "Why?"

"You were in it for four hours. And you didn't come out once," Ayn said.

"How do you know-" Jaina stopped as Ayn lifted his CIP from under the table. "Oh. Ohh."

Ayn finished the food on the plate in front of him and wandered back up to the sitting room. Jaina followed him. Ayn sat and motioned for Jaina to do the same. Ayn read idly off of a datapad. He heard a stuttering sound.

"The hyperdrive motivators are unaligned by about four-tenths. Want to help me fix them?"

  


Jaina and Ayn finished that. By then, it was time for evening meal.

"Jaina, you might want to get some sleep. When we get to Cloud City, we'll be going on local time. At Coruscant's two in the morning, it's already seven-thirty on Bespin."

Jaina nodded and headed for her sleeping quarters. After Jaina left, Ayn cleared everything on the table, then went into his room.

  


Jaina heard her alarm go off. She turned over in bed and swatted at it.

"Jaina, we're coming out of hyperspace now."

She bolted out of bed, pushed her hair out of her face, slipped into her jumpsuit, and came running up to the cockpit.

"One minute and fifty-four seconds. Not bad." Ayn smiled. Jaina shrugged. The _Thunder Wraith_ dropped out of hyperspace. Ayn took her into a parking orbit and sat relaxing for a minute. Bespin was a beautiful planet.

"I like this place...nice looking..." Ayn said, absentmindedly.

"I'll say," Jaina said, staring out the viewports.

A text transmission scrolled across a secondary monitor. Ayn read it. "We have clearance for Pad 143. Jaina, if you would?"

Jaina took the controls with delight and set _Thunder Wraith_ down on the landing pad.

"Nicely done, Jaina," Ayn said.

"Thanks," Jaina replied. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"OK, I'm coming." Ayn pulled his lightsaber off of his belt and held it low and ready. "Be on your guard. I have a bad feeling about this one."

Jaina's hand went down to her lightsaber's hilt. As they walked down the ramp, five Cloud City wing guards waited.

"You are the diplomatic envoy?" the one wearing a captain's insignia asked.

"Yes, that's us." Jaina looked wary. She tried her best at giving Ayn a message through the Force: I think you were right.

  


Fortunately, the trip to the Baron Administrator's office was uneventful. As they walked in, a smiling, balding middle-aged man greeted them from behind a desk.

"Hello! My name is Farl Cort. You are the diplomats from Coruscant?" The man seemed overly happy, and both Ayn and Jaina could tell the smile was false.

"Yes, we are the diplomats from Coruscant." Jaina smiled sweetly. "I'm Jaina Solo, daughter of the Chief of State, and this is Ayn Thren, diplomatic envoy from Corellia to Coruscant."

[_Please_ stop it with the smile,] Ayn thought. Jaina looked slightly surprised, then put on a regular smile.

"Nice to meet both of you." Farl seemed nervous about something. "Guards, we won't be needing you anymore." As soon as they left, Farl visibly relaxed. Then, to Ayn and Jaina's surprise, he closed and locked to door to the outside.

"Have a seat." He indicated two seats in front of the desk. "I wanted you two specifically because you are Jedi Knights. There have been four attempts on my life in the last week." Farl spoke in a low voice.

"Any idea why?" Ayn now looked even more watchful.

"A group of renegade Bothans wanted Cloud City. They've been trying to get me to negotiate a change in ownership so they can make weapons for use against who knows who. I refused, and I think they are going to try to use more forceful-"

Ayn shoved Jaina bodily over the desk and on top of Farl. He gave the desk a push with the Force and covered both of them up. Ayn took up a position at the door. Sparks shot from the door control panel. Four mercenary soldiers in stormtrooper armor plunged in through the deactivated door. Ayn slashed the first one's blaster and then put a neat, coin -sized whole through his shoulder. That trooper fell to the ground, unconscious. He spun and sliced clean through the next two. Four sections of body hit the floor, each making a wet thump. The last soldier had his blaster around toward Ayn. Ayn blocked two shots, then hit the trooper over the head with the hilt of his lightsaber. A holdout blaster appeared in Ayn's hand from an arm holster. Two stun shots raked the two troopers left alive, knocking them out colder. All of this happened in just about two seconds.

"It's safe." Ayn pulled the desk off of the two.

Jaina stared in surprise at the four troopers laying on the ground. "You killed them all?"

"No, I stunned one, and the first one's injury will be OK with a little bacta. The other two were already ready to shoot."

Jaina still was a little shaky. Ayn scooted a chair over for her, and she nodded her thanks. Ayn took up a standing position by the door, unfazed.

"You do know someone just attempted an assassination, right?" Jaina tried a smile but it wouldn't come.

"Has Tenel Ka ever told you about Hapan politics?" Ayn questioned. Jaina nodded. "Well, Corellian politics are worse." Ayn offered up a humorless smile. "My parents would be dead many times over if not for me."

Jaina looked thunderstruck. _I had thought he was just a pampered ambassador_.

"By the way, Baron Administrator, your three men in the hallway are for you," Ayn said. The three guards rushed in.

"What happened?" one asked.

"Assassination attempt. This young man saved my and this young lady's life." Farl looked shaky. Jaina glowered at Ayn, but he ignored it for the moment. The chief guard questioned Farl some more.

Jaina pulled Ayn away from the guard. "There was no need to do that. I can handle myself in a fight," she said darkly, locking her brandy-brown eyes with his glacial blue eyes. He projected calm. Jaina felt herself relaxing.

"Yes, I know you can handle yourself. But, you were not ready. One of the mercs could've and would've burned you down where you stood. If they wanted to, they could've fired through the desk and killed both of you. I saved your life, but I don't care whether you acknowledge that or not." Ayn walked back to his position by the door. Jaina followed.

"I do acknowledge that, but I want your promise that you'll let me fight next time."

Ayn looked down at her. "_If_ the conditions are right, okay. If not, I still will, because I don't want to know what you would do to me if I didn't."

Jaina smiled. "Good."

  


Once Ayn was sure all the guards in Farl's immediate area were completely allied with him, Ayn started walking back to the _Thunder Wraith._ Jaina had started back a few minutes before Ayn and was working on something in the engine compartment. Ayn ambled up the boarding ramp and back to the engine compartment.

"What are you doing?" he asked Jaina.

"Trying...to...get...this...connection tighter! There." Jaina withdrew from the compartment and wiped off her greasy hands on her jumpsuit.

"Farl wants us to be his bodyguards until this situation is resolved," Ayn said.

"What?? We're Jedi Knights, not baby-sitters!" Jaina exclaimed disbelievingly.

"I said the same thing, only a little bit more diplomatically." Ayn smiled. "And I also agreed."

Jaina glowered at him. He motioned toward the door and thought, [Follow. Most probably there are listening bugs in here.]

Jaina walked forward, taking point.

"Nice day. It seems that this Bothan conspiracy goes deeper than meets the eye." Ayn surreptitiously pulled a datacard and a datapad out of a pocket. He fed the datacard in.

A video appeared on the datapad's screen and a Bothan's face came into focus.

"I assume I am speaking to Ayn Thren and Jaina Solo. We know who you are and what you are doing. Leave at once or there will be death."

Ayn moved the recording forward and the same Bothan appeared.

"Farl Cort: We will not continue this nonsense. Give Cloud City to us. If you don't, we will revert to more violent messages. We will give you, in return for Cloud City-" Ayn shut the message off.

"Regular politics after that?" Jaina asked.

"Yes. Boring, yet enlightening. Where do those Bothans get twenty-five million credits?" Ayn commented quietly.

"What?" Jaina said in the same volume as Ayn. "Where'd they get that kind of money?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask." Ayn led them toward a restaurant. No one turned as they walked in. "I chose this place because we'll be noticed, yet undisturbed. And the food's not all that bad, either."

Jaina followed Ayn to a booth in the corner. "So what do we do about this? How do we find out when an attack is going to come?" Jaina questioned.

"First off, we brainstorm a little. There's a nice place I know of. There's a thranta demonstration going on in about thirty minutes," Ayn replied.

"That'll work," Jaina said. Ayn led off to a small grandstand near the very edge of Cloud City. The thrantas dipped and dove gracefully. The riders tumbled around through the air and switched thrantas many times. Ayn and Jaina, however, were not looking at the display. Ayn shifted his gaze up higher, above the thrantas, and noticed something in orbit."Oh, no."

  


  


Jaina looked over at Ayn. "What? What is it?" Ayn just pointed up. Jaina drew on the Force and enhanced her vision. "Oh, no. An invasion fleet?" She sensed angry Bothan minds on board all the ships.

Ayn nodded. "They won't attack yet. I'm sure the Bothans will sabotage any automated defense systems and lock down all the others."

"Is there anything we can do?" Jaina asked.

"Other than slink around and do as much damage as we can, no." Ayn grinned. "We need a good place to hole up in first."

Jaina's eyes lit up. "I know just the place."

  


Jaina led Ayn across a rickety bridge above a huge ventilation shaft. After they crossed that, Jaina tapped a few buttons on a door control console. 

"Hmmm...." she said in concentration. Ayn tapped her shoulder.

"Do we want to get through the door as fast as possible or with as little detection as possible?" Ayn asked.

"As fast as possible." Jaina stepped aside. "If you want to try, go ahead."

Ayn snapped his arm out straight, felt his holdout blaster slide into his palm, and blasted a hole through the panel. A door opened up, then began closing and opening rapidly. Ayn put another shot into it, and the door stopped, open about half way. He pushed the blaster back into the holster with the Force and walked through the opening. He stepped aside and let Jaina take the lead again. She led him lower and lower into Cloud City. They finally reached a warehouse, though the way it was armored made it look like a bunker. Weapon emplacements jutted out at near-random points on the shining durasteel surface.

"This is a warehouse?" Ayn stared at the armored surface. "This thing could survive an orbital bombardment."

Jaina hit the door control and the door opened for her. "An old Cloud City stronghold. Back when Lando Calrissian was Baron Administrator, he cleared my dad for access. When I and Jacen were born, we were cleared."

Ayn walked in and saw a squad of Combat Cloud Cars and two outdated Y-Wing fighters on the first floor. Four more floors extended up from Ayn's viewpoint.

"Wow." Ayn looked around. "What's on the rest of the floors?"

"Troop barracks. I think this was abandoned in favor of more defensible positions from orbital assault. All of Cloud City's troops are probably up near the gun emplacements on the top levels. If your theory is correct, they should be disabled before soon." Jaina continued on, but Ayn was more interested in the dark undercurrent he had picked up. It rolled around in the back of his mind, then resolved into something distinct. "-so we can probably defend for a few days-" Jaina was cut off by Ayn's flying tackle. He rolled them out of the way of debris falling from the ceiling. Cloud City rocked crazily.

"They're bombarding us." Ayn, dusted himself off and got off from on top of Jaina, then glanced up at the broken duracrete. The damage was superficial. "A near hit. The concussion wave took it down."

Jaina dusted herself off. "You did it again."

"What, save your life or not leave you to your own devices?" Ayn retorted.

Jaina looked slightly subdued, but continued. "You didn't have to do that! I would have figured it out!"

"Yes, when the duracrete hit you. You were just standing there."

"I-" Jaina stopped. "Okay, you're right. So will you let me prove myself next time?""Okay. _Unless_ it seems like you're going to get yourself killed again." Ayn smiled coldly. "And you aren't going to get any better than that."

Jaina walked away toward the quarters near the back of the hangar.

Ayn walked up to one of the Y-Wings and climbed up to the cockpit. He immersed himself in getting it back to working order.

Jaina walked back up to the front of the first floor and saw Ayn's feet comically sticking out of a Y-Wing's engine. Jaina allowed herself a smile, then jumped up to the Y-Wing. She sat down and waited. Soon, Ayn sensed her presence and extricated himself from the engine.

"Yes?" he said as soon as his head was out. He tried to rise and forgot about the four bars surrounding him top, bottom, left, and right. He mumbled as he slid diagonally through the bars and up to the engine casing. "You wanted something?" Ayn rubbed his head.

"First off, I wanted to see you do that. Second thing I want to do is say...I'm sorry. I would be dead twice now if not for your actions."

"This coming from the person who two hours ago wanted me to leave her to her own devices?" Ayn looked more than a little skeptical.

"I mean it." Jaina slid down off the Y-Wing. "Did you do anything on the other one?"

"No, not yet. If you want to do it, go ahead." Ayn smiled as Jaina began checking things out on it as soon as 'No' had come out of his mouth.

  


Six hours later, Jaina dropped her tools and looked around. Her Y-Wing was up to top performance. She looked slowly around and noticed _Thunder Wraith _in the hangar. Smells of food wafted over from that direction. She slid off of her Y-Wing and walked over to the shuttle.

  


For the next two days, they continued to plan and mainly disagree on how to go about the resistance on Cloud City.

  


Jaina slid off her perch on the Y-Wing's engine pod and sniffed. A good-smelling smell was coming from _Thunder Wraith_.

"Welcome," Ayn said from the dining area. "I was wondering if you would notice." He waved at the chrono. Jaina stared in disbelief.

"I wasn't out there for six hours." Jaina spoke like she was trying to convince herself.

"You were. I got _Thunder Wraith _here, locked a few defense systems to the on position, and came back. Oh, the Bothans still haven't assaulted us yet."

"Any idea why?" Jaina sat down and helped herself to a platter of food.

"I think they want to make a public relations debacle during Coruscant's negotiations with Corellia." A frown creased Ayn's forehead. "I pulled a scanner readout on that fleet. Something like forty-seven capital ships."

"They really want this place, don't they?" Jaina commented. "Why haven't they assaulted us-" She was cut off by sounds of fighter engines and blaster fire.

"It's begun." Ayn grabbed his lightsaber and walked toward the Y-Wing he prepped. "Now let's show them what a pair of Jedi Knights can do."

Ayn powered up the repulsorlifts of his aging Y-Wing fighter, hit the button on the panel that opened the hangar.

"Gold Two, reporting in." Jaina's voice. Ayn allowed himself a chuckle. "Lead here, vic formation, tighten it up, Two."

"As ordered, Lead." Jaina's fighter sidled up to his in a loose approximation of a combat formation. "Scans commencing."

"Don't bother, Two. They're Authority IRDs. Get one hit on them and they'll fall apart."

"Right, Lead." Ayn's sensors showed Jaina powering up her weapons and shields. Ayn did the same and launched forward out of the hangar. The moment he got out of the hangar, an enemy fighter appeared in his targeting brackets. He opened fire. The two laser shots missed, but both ion cannon bursts hit, leaving the IRD in an unrecoverable plunge toward the planet's core. Ayn put his fighter into a climb. As he neared the top edges of Cloud City, swarms of enemy fighters appeared. In the middle of each swarm was an assault shuttle.

"Get the shuttles first, then take the fighters." Ayn moved the targeting brackets on his Heads Up Display toward the first assault shuttle. "Gimme a lock, gimme a lock!" His targeting brackets finally went green, indicating a good firing angle. He fired. All four shots hit the assault shuttle and, though the shields almost held, destroyed it in a spectacular explosion. All five of the IRDs guarding the shuttle were caught in the blast.

Jaina's shots lanced out and destroyed another assault shuttle in no less spectacular fashion. One of the escorts managed to survive, but the speed at which it was traveling was too fast. It smashed up against one of Cloud City's upper spires. The spire collapsed, exploded, and broke into hundreds of pieces of shrapnel, causing further destruction among the Bothan ranks. Four more assault shuttles and their escorts exploded. Five fighters broke off to engage Ayn and Jaina. Ayn fired a proton torpedo at the center craft. The explosion took two other IRDs with it. The other two were destroyed by brilliantly accurate fire coming from off to his left. "Nice shooting, Two."

"You shot pretty well yourself, Lead. Head back home now." Jaina heeled her craft over and turned toward the secret base that was Cloud City's last hope.

  


Ayn climbed out of his cockpit and slid off the side of his Y-Wing. He walked over toward Jaina's Y-Wing and waited for her to slide off.

"We need to cause some damage to the ground troops now." Jaina was all business as she slid off her Y-Wing and walked toward the entrance.

"Maybe a slight break would be a good idea?" Ayn looked hopeful.

"No. There could be innocents dying out there." Jaina was resolved.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Ayn readied his lightsaber. Jaina looked slightly surprised and retrieved her lightsaber from _Thunder Wraith_.

"You just had to do that, didn't you?" Jaina looked slightly subdued.

"Yes, I did." Ayn smiled. "Now, what are we waiting for?"

  


Jaina took point and Ayn followed closely. They returned to the more populated areas of Cloud City. They were nearly to the top levels of it when the whine of blaster fire met their ears.

"I'll bet it's just a skirmish." Ayn fell silent. "Only a few Wing Guards against ten or twelve mercs. I'll take point."

Ayn led them through a maze of passageways and tunnels. Soon, they were behind the mercenary soldiers. One Wing Guard stood behind a pillar, defending himself. Twenty mercs fired at him.

"Go!" Ayn said, bringing his lightsaber up and diving into the fight. Four blaster barrels were severed before the mercenaries even knew what hit them. Jaina came in whirling, and one more clattered to the floor. They both jumped back about ten feet and began blocking and deflecting blaster fire. A slow grin spread across Ayn's face. Almost playful, as if these enemies didn't deserve his full concentration. Jaina risked a quick glance at him and thought he looked quite dashing with the smile. Her concentration dropped a notch for one moment, and that was one moment too long. A blaster bolt was flying at her, and even as she moved her lightsaber to intercept it, she knew it would be too late. Suddenly, Ayn's lightsaber came in and deflected the bolt away.

[Thanks for the compliment,] he 'said' to her. [But now really isn't the time.] Jaina's cheeks burned, but she continued fighting.

The Wing Guard who had been hiding behind the pillar popped out and fired, mowing down three mercenary troops. The soldiers recognized the gravity of their situation and turned to fire at the Wing Guard. As they did that, Ayn and Jaina charged in. Ayn flipped his lightsaber through one soldier and stabbed another through his chest armor. Jaina cleaved two weapons into pieces, then whirled and put a hole through another soldier's stomach. After about a minute more of this, all the troopers were down.

The Wing Guard crawled away.

"What, not even a thank you?" Ayn said to himself, ignoring Jaina's glare. "I think we should return to our little hideout and prepare for some actual war."

Jaina nodded. "And what about Administrator Cort?"

"We can do all of that later. Now, getting stocked up would be a very good idea." Ayn turned and walked to the nearest turbolift. "We are Cloud City's only hope. The only way we win is to play this right."

  


Ayn walked into _Thunder Wraith_ and tapped out a series on a hull plate with his fist. The plate popped open. Jaina peered in at the explosives, detonators, and other implements of destruction. 

"You have a strange family," she said.

"Don't be jealous," Ayn replied with a smile.

Jaina grabbed a detonator and looked it over. "So when do we start blowing things up?"

Ayn looked her straight in the eye. "After you get a good night's sleep and some food."

"But-" Jaina was cut off.

"You haven't slept for the last day and you haven't eaten a good meal for two." Ayn looked down on her. "Get going."

Jaina refused to budge. Ayn stood his ground, and Jaina finally backed down. "Alright, alright, I'll do it. Only because I can't find fault with your logic."

"That was the general idea." Ayn smiled. "You look like the sleep would be the best idea now."

Jaina turned and left without comment.

  


A day later, Jaina walked out of _Thunder Wraith_, refreshed and energized. Smells of food wafted down to her from one of the upper floors. Probing with her mind, she located Ayn on the fifth floor of the fortress. She decided against taking the turbolift. Three minutes later, she entered the small base kitchen/dining hall.

What's cooking? Jaina asked.

Roast stormtrooper rations with a touch of stale bread, he said with a straight face. She nearly screamed before she figured it out. Truth, now?

He took the attitude of a chef at a fine restaurant. Mynock Coronet City, prepared in a special marinade sauche known only to me. He set a platter before her. Try it, it's good.


End file.
